Seven reasons why coffee benefits your health

You probably already know that coffee benefits include that jolt you get after the first cup of your favorite brew in the morning.

But the benefits of coffee includes many other facts backed up by some very well researched science.

Let us have a look at Seven of these powerful benefits.

Coffee boosts your digestion

In addition to waking up your brain, coffee also wakes up your digestive system in the morning.

The reason why it does this is the fact that the caffeine in coffee stimulates the large intestine, causing it to contract. This has been confirmed by a number of credible nutritional consultants all over the world.

A number of doctors even recommend that anyone who is constipated try drinking coffee instead of taking laxatives.

The caffeine in coffee can cure your problem with headaches

Coffee can do this by temporarily constricting dilated blood vessels, which may be the reason for your pain.

This claim is made by somebody who should know because he is one of the co-founders of the New England Center for Headaches, Dr Fred Sheftell.

Coffee can fight depression

In a ten year Harvard study which was published in 2011, coffee benefits were tested in a total of 50 739 US women.

They found that the women who drank 4 or more cups of coffee per day had a 20% lower risk of becoming depressed over the testing period.

An even bigger study with 208,424 individuals, found that depression risk decreases with increasing coffee consumption.

The data showed a strong inverse relationship ( 53% less likely to ) between coffee intake and risk of suicide for those who drank 4 or more cups per day.

But that is not all.......

The caffeine in coffee can improve mental functions including memory

Researchers from Netherlands tested coffee benefits on the short term memory of 26 healthy people.

They found that 250 milligrams of caffeine ( about three cups of coffee ) had a very beneficial effect including restoring their mental powers of recall.

In a test published by the American Diabetes Association in February 2002 caffeine was administered intravenously to 12 healthy volunteers in a randomized, double-blind, crossover design

The results: Caffeine decreased insulin sensitivity by 15% possibly as a result of elevated plasma epinephrine levels.

Coffee contains several important essential nutrients

The nutrients in one cup (8 fl oz) ( 237 grams ) coffee is as follows:

Calories

Protein

Vitamin B2 riboflavin

Potassium

Manganese

Magnesium

Niacin

2.4 kJ

0.30 grams

0.2 milligrams

116 milligrams

0.1 milligrams

7.1 milligrams

0.5 milligrams

Coffee works wonders for your liver health

A study published in the US library of medicine in June 2006 found that there is an ingredient in coffee that protects against cirrhosis, especially alcoholic cirrhosis.

This study confirmed the findings of and earlier study published in 2001, and further established the existence of an inverse association between coffee consumption and liver cirrhosis.

In yet another study done by The National Institute of Environmental Medicine, in Stockholm, Sweden ( published in January 2007 ) it was also confirmed that an increased consumption of coffee reduced the risk of liver cancer.